Birthday Kisses
by Hana J
Summary: It is Hinata's birthday...all girls deserve to get a kiss on their birthday. Don't you agree? Naruto is going to grant Hinata her wish. NarutoHinata.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Celebrate now.

Summary: It is Hinata's birthday...all girls deserve a kiss on their birthday. (Don't you agree?)

Warning: A mild kissing scene.

Etc. Look, no Sasuke!

_Birthday Kisses_

By: Hana J.

She sat on the edge of a large table, a cup of sake cradled in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Yellow, overhanging paper lamps cast the restaurant in their warm glow. Naruto looked golden in the dim lighting. His skin, tan from the summer months, was a pale gold and his hair looked like it was dusted with gilt, he reminded her of the candies she used to get for New Years, wrapped up in a golden foil. A hesitant smile tugged on her lips as she thought he certainly looked good enough to eat.

She sucked in a quiet breath, lifting the sake cup to her lips to swallow down the bitter warm liquid. She uses the cup to hide her questing eyes by ducking her chin in order to accommodate the drink. The table jerked as Naruto spun in his chair to face her, the birthday girl. The voices around her, a low hum, quieted at his movement. Naruto, whether he knew it or not, commanded attention.

"Happy Birthday Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled causing Sakura, sitting next to him, to wince.

He hands her a package, brightly wrapped in paper with kunai dressed in kimonosand she holds it carefully in her hands, the box shifting slightly from the unbalanced weight of whatever is inside it. She sets it next to her plate of unfinished sashimi. Kiba, leaning across her, sets a cake of white cream and strawberries in front of her. There are no candles decorating it.

Shino clears his throat uneasily, shooting her a barely-visible smile as he hands her a small package wrapped in deep blue paper. It is light and makes her think of jewelry but Shino is not the type of man to buy frivolous gifts and she secretly can't wait to see what it is. Every year for her birthday he has gotten her something immensely useful that has always come in handy on missions.

A few other people, her friends, now with various rankings, pass presents around the table, packages moving from hand to hand until they reach her side. She sets all of them to the right side of her plate, but Naruto's remains the closest, touching the pale ceramic. Eventually, her plate is overpowered by hulking boxes and delicately gift wrapped bags, ribbons and bows of blues and whites slipping into her rice and sticking to the now gooey fish. She peels a stray ribbon off the slimy underside of a trout and jerks back in surprise. Naruto's face is right in front of her, whisker marks a deep indentation in his skin and his blue eyes bright and glossy in the light.

"Are you going to open them?"

She fumbles for a package, her hands twisting a bow. "Ah, not yet N-Naruto-kun."

Kiba whacks Naruto on the head. "We have to sing her Happy Birthday first! And then she has to make a wish!"

"No," Sakura corrects, "we're supposed to put candles on the cake and then she makes a wish."

Kiba rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, well, same thing." Naruto snickers quietly, a breathy sound that her ears catch.

Neji comes up from behind, his hand brushing her shoulder as he sticks six candles into her cake. When everyone else is looking at Kiba, who is ostentatiously lighting the candles, Neji leans down and whispers 'Happy Birthday' in her ear. His breath is cool and smells of tea. As he leaves a cool weight settles against her neck and his fingers tiptoe across her nape before he pulls back and goes to sit on the opposite side of the table. She touches her collarbone and the silver metal resting there. It is a necklace with a pendant hanging down towards the hollow of her throat. A dove. Her smile is brilliant and Naruto's eyes catch hers when she looks up.

The candles are lit and her group of friends sing happy birthday to her in broken English. It sounds horrible and Naruto's voice is particularly off tune but she can't stop smiling. This moment is perfect.

The song ends with Lee clapping enthusiastically and eventually everyone else at the table, except for her, begins to clap. She can feel her cheeks heat up with a blush but she leans forward to blow out the candles and a hand on her shoulder stops her. Naruto's fingers are warm through her shirt sleeve.

"You have to make a wish first!" His eyes crinkle up when he talks and she is reminded, then, of how child-like he seems.

She nods, takes a big breath and thinks; _I wish to get a kiss_. Her breath whooshes out of her and all the candle flames flicker and die, some of the wax dripping onto the cream. She is sixteen and has only been kissed once by a boy – her cousin Neji – at her aunt's wedding. She doesn't count it as a real kiss.

Naruto laughs along with several others who cheer and wish for her to have a good birthday. Naruto is leaning over the table towards her, knife in hand.

"So, what did you wish for?"

Neji is staring at Naruto from his side of the table a bit worriedly and she can see his fingers twitch with effort to not grab the knife Naruto is waving about carelessly. She smiles into her hand, watching as Naruto cuts the cake into even pieces, enough for everyone, and he hands her the biggest piece.

Sakura is grabbing a fork from Kiba's hand and scolding him for trying to take a bite of the cake before the birthday girl. She feels happy, like her heart is being squeezed tight and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

"She can't tell you or else it won't come true!" Ino points out, waving her fork at Naruto, crumbs splattering on a nearby napkin. Chouji unobtrusively picks the crumbs off Ino's napkin when she isn't looking and Shikamaru, watching them both, rolls his eyes at her. She picks at her cake and eats a bite, watching as everyone around her shoves fistfuls of cake into their mouth, though the girls do it a lot more gracefully than the guys.

Eventually, once all the cake is eaten and all the cream is licked away from the corner of mouths, Hinata begins the long process of shuffling her presents together to take home. She never opens presents in front of people. She never has and after celebrating many birthdays, the last few with this same group of people, her friends have come to accept this and normally help her carry a few home. She sends them all specific thank you cards before the week is over.

Naruto helps her gather her packages, winking at her as he does so. Sakura is looking in her direction curiously and distracting Kiba from helping her. Normally, Kiba and Shino help her carry home her presents but today it looks like Naruto will be the only one. Shino gives her a vague smile, once all conversation has died down, and excuses himself. She notices then how late it is, many of her friends should have gone home a couple of hours ago. She knows that many of their parents will excuse their tardiness because of her birthday but she can't help but feel a bit bad for keeping them up. Hugs are given, Kiba wraps sturdy arms around her, sniffing her hair and making her giggle at feeling of his nose on her neck. Neji stands in front of her, solemn and serious but she can read his blank white eyes better than anyone and she knows that he is happy as he nods his head goodnight, hand briefly touching her own before he slips out the door. Lee twirls her around once before enveloping her in a hug, and Sakura stands off to the side, watching. She then gives both Ino and Sakura a hug, their arms pale and cool against her back as they wrap around her. She smiles and says thank you to Chouji and Shikamura who only nod in reply. Conversation breaks off as everyone begins to leave the restaurant and return home.

Naruto, his arms full of packages, walks beside her strangely quiet. He is looking at her from the corner of his eyes, Hinata's eyes miss nothing and she feels her stomach stir in response. They reach Hinata's apartment. She moved out of the Main House at fifteen. There had been a big uproar about it within the Hyuuga household but finally her Father relented, saying that it would teach her responsibility and independence. She has gotten a lot more confident from living on her own, some things cannot be taught by family and friends.

She opens the door to her apartment, keeping it wide enough so that Naruto can walk through easily. One present, Naruto's present, bumps against the door frame and falls from Naruto's arms. She picks it up, trailing behind Naruto and shutting the door. He sets all of her presents on the couch and turns to her, smiling.

"Did you have a good birthday, Hinata-chan?" He asks.

She smiles. "Yes, thank you Naruto-kun."

He laughs, his hand scratching behind his head in a show of nervous energy. "Ah, I have one last present to give to you."

She turns to him, shocked. "A-ah, Naruto-kun you don't have to do that—"

He leans forward and kisses her. His lips are wet, though chapped, and his tongue is warm against her bottom lip. She stiffens in surprise but relaxes in his hold. She can tell, by his trembling hands and open eyes that he is nervous. But it is obvious, even to her, that he is much more experienced. She feels a flutter of apprehension because she doesn't know what to do but she leans forward, pressing her mouth harder against his. He pulls back and nips her bottom lip before opening his mouth, his tongue swiping at her teeth. She opens her mouth a bit unsurely, like she had seen girls in the movies do. His tongue is in her mouth and it is wet, like an overlarge slug, but she doesn't mind. The kiss ends without ceremony, he nuzzles her neck, similar to Kiba's movements earlier and then whispers happy birthday in her ear.

He steps away from her and his cheeks are red. "A kiss for the Birthday Girl." She recognizes the words for what they are, an excuse. He bends down and picks up the present she dropped, the present he gave her. "I hope your birthday wish comes true."

His eyes aren't looking at her and she thinks that maybe he thinks that he did something wrong. She wants to reassure him, to tell him that she has always wanted this but she doesn't know how. He sets her present on the couch with the others. He is moving towards the door, waving goodbye and her heart clenches in panic.

"N-Naruto-kun." He stops in the doorway, head tilted. "My wish…it did come true."

He turns to her and laughs. "I'm glad." He looks introspective for a moment before a silly smile plasters itself to his face. "Maybe you should make more wishes, yeah?"

She blushes and nods her head. Sixteen and just-been-kissed. For her seventeenth birthday she might wish for more.


End file.
